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I hate to get political, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I am not telling, and will not tell you what to think. As an American, I believe we all have the right to freedom of both thought and speech. You must make up your own mind where you personally stand, and then choose what you will - or won't - do. I encourage all to do what they feel right.Phat J The following was written by a friend of my brother Jay's, ya know we've all seen alot of B.S. gettin' flung around the internet lately , but this is something different. Everybody seems to be unsure about protestors, and whether or not their behavior is patriotic. Well, Glenn has come to set some of you, at least, straight. Anyways, with no further adieu......, Glenn gonna testify to all ya'all!!From Glen in Oregon...
Hello all,
I received an email the other day about a speech deriding the protesters of
this war with Iraq as being unpatriotic.
I haven't gone off on a "rant" lately because I have been so disgusted to
the point of nausea with the fact that our soldiers are now dying, explained
away as "Patriotic" sacrifices they must
make to protect our freedom.
So I am sorry if the following rambles a bit...
Obviously there seems to be a lot of confusion that the protesters to this
invasion of Iraq are against the soldiers. The protesters ARE NOT protesting
against the troops, we are protesting the policy that puts them in harms
way. (in todays lingo... Don't hate the playa... Hate the game).
I can't imagine any one of us that doesn't want anything more than the
soldiers to return safely.
I would agree wholeheartedly that if any one would wish harm to one of our
soldiers for doing their sworn duty then that person, at the very least,
should have their citizenship revoked & be exported to some other part of
the world (netherworld). (of course if they were to remain in the U.S. as an
illegal alien, they would still receive the same services as an American
citizen,
which is BS, but that is another subject for another day).
The bottom line is our troops shouldn't be in Iraq at all.
Instead of putting our troops in harms way trying to remove some dictator in
the desert, why aren't we going after other countries that WE KNOW to
possess WMD's and have documented connections to terrorism? The fact that
Iraq is the only recognized non secular government in the
Middle East is one reason. Saddam uses religion to appeal to his people but
he is not an ayatullah, (I think I spelled that right)
The fact that most of the terrorists of 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia, & along
with Syria & Jordan have been supporting terrorists for years begs the
question, why are we not "Liberating" those countries. Of course, If we were
to invade these secularly governed countries I would imagine the
"Jihad" ,(for lack of a better word), would make 9/11 look like child's
play, because that would be construed as an direct attack on the Muslim
faith, and not the current invasion of a dictators country that happens to
have a large Muslim population.
As it is all of the Countries in the Middle East, except for Kuwait, are
petitioning the U.N. to tell the U.S. & U.K. to cease this invasion of a
neighbor they don't really care for. But if he was such a threat to them as
our fearless leader keeps telling us then why aren't they jumping on the
Coalition bandwagon?
A former CIA man, Richard Perle, made the comment recently that Iraq could
possibly only be the beginning. Don't think that hasn't raised the anxiety
of the other countries around Iraq. & based on Colin Powell's & Donald
Rumsfeld's recent comments regarding Syria & Iran, it is starting to look
like this may happen.
What about North Korea?
I guess the fact that there is huge $$$ investments in South Korea by
Corporate America... also remeber who has North Korea's back?( I think the
country's name is China... hmmm... been there done that...)
On another minor note, the Saudi who has been in the paper lately with a 5
million dollar reward from the FBI for his capture was once a "freedom
fighter" for the Mujhadeen in Afghanistan, when they were fighting the
Russians. Now he is a terrorist... WHO OUR COUNTRY HELPED TO TRAIN. (That
has never happened before... yeah right... see Osama Bin Laden).
I am so tired of seeing Vietnam & WWII used as comparisons in the context
they are right now.
Have the people of this country forgotten anything we learned from Vietnam?
As we are starting to see, as this war progresses, what is going on in Iraq
is fast becoming another Vietnam.
Let's see... Our military leaders didn't practice wargames in the event that
there were paramilitary sneak attacks on our soldiers??????? They only
planned for an armored battle & now are not prepared for these suicide runs
that are being made by pick up trucks on our tanks????? Did the Pentagon use
the same intelligence sources to plan their wargames that also provided
forged documents to try & convince the U.N. that Saddam tried to purchase
nuclear ingredients from Niger????? ("But everything is going according to
plan"... yeah right George & Donald).
Vietnam is one major example to use that the protesters ought to be listened
to too. History has borne out that most of what the protesters back in the
60's & 70's were saying about corporate special interests being the reason
for the war was true. Yet our government kept placing it under the guise of
"stopping communism".
Did anyone catch the ticker on CNN the other night when it announced that
Dick Cheney's old company, Haliburton, received the contract to put out the
oil well fires... Hmmmmmmm. Think about it, If we weren't there those
wells,(which our government told us would be set on fire if we invaded),
wouldn't be on fire... (that was some correct intelligence) So maybe any
profits realized by Haliburton for this job should go to the families of the
soldiers who HAVE ALREADY DIED for a flawed foreign policy... (That will be
the day).
& comparing this war to WWII is even more ridiculous. It is another case of
apples & oranges.
I was almost sick the other night when I saw some of the news channels daily
reports about Iraq referring to the "ALLIED" forces that were involved in a
recent firefight.
To use the term "Allied" is a rather blatant propaganda move by our
government to draw a subliminal connection to WWII, & an insult to the
millions of lives that were lost to stop a TRUE threat.
Especially when this invasion is not supported by the majority of our
(Former)"ALLIES". (But if it works for the "true believers" a.k.a.
"Patriots" in this country, then it must be okay).
Did you read the Oregonian on, 03/25/03?
There is a bill in the Oregon Senate to label any protester who acts out in
a "violent" way, right down to breaking a window, to be put in jail for a
mandatory minimum of 25 years & possibly for life. I do not agree with
displays of violence by peace protesters as it seems to
contradict the purpose, but then again there was a "Boston Tea Party" that
was held when the
colonists felt there was no other way to get the british royalty to listen
to their concerns... so they hit em in the pocket book.
Thank god for the common sense of other representatives who shot this bill
down in it's current language One of them even said, "What would our troops
think about that", here they are "fighting for our freedom", (well actually
the corporate special interests that directs the current &
recent administrations policies). & they return home to find laws, some
already in effect, (Patriot Act etc.), that restrict the very freedom they
are supposedly fighting for.
But be warned the rep who sponsored it, (no... his name is not Saddam... it
is Minnis), is going to go back to the drawing board & change the language
to make it more "acceptable".
It seems that those who are against the protesters think that they have the
market on what can & can't be said. Oh so that makes them a better American
than I????? Sorry George if you do not like the questions that the press is
asking you unless it is your scripted theatre act. There are actually a lot
of people who do not support your agenda in Iraq & want to know why you are
not addressing the problems in our own country that will do a lot more
damage too our way of life then some dictator in the desert.
And since when does our president have a pipeline to God. I guess that isn't
an insult to other religions who call America their home. I AM AN AMERICAN &
I believe in God but it doesn't matter what my religion or faith is. The
constitution, though written by mainly men of the christian faith, PURPOSELY
did not use the word christianity in any part of the original document.
They had just separated from a tyranny that used a specific religion to
control & persecute the populace and did not want the same thing to be
allowed to occur in this new FREE country. The people who wrote the
constitution were extremely intelligent & though they could not have known
of the "advances" that have been realized in just the past 50-100 years,
they did know about base human behavior which has transcended history right
from the beginning & therefore worded the constitution so that it could not
be misconstrued by the general population OR THE COURTS. & could also be
applied through any future generation as it was written.
Though it is generally accepted today that the United States is a christian
based society, did you know there are more muslims here than in Afghanistan?
I do not see them, the jews, the hari krishnas, etc. or even the atheists
standing in lines to convert. They are here because they are allowed to
practice their faith or non faith freely without fear of persecution. (at
least for now... but that is changing everyday)
It wasn't until special interests became involved & knee jerk reactions to
specific subjects that occured at times in our country's history that the
constitution was amended to it's present watered down form. Heck the phrase
"under god" wasn't even in the "Pledge of Allegiance until
sometime in the 50's & I believe that was a direct result of McCarthyism.
But that being said, "Under God" is just that, it does not specify a
christian, jewish, muslim, buddhist, taoist or hindu god. (of course I guess
if you are an atheist you can't be an American either based on this????).
If you say our troops are fighting for our freedom in another part of the
world, then why are you so willing to watch the rights and way of life being
taken away by our own government under the guise of fighting
terrorists????????
At the rate they are passing new laws we will all be terrorists in the eyes
of the government.
Our government needs to start looking at our foreign policy in a long term
way as opposed to their short term reactive ways of the past few
administrations, or we are going to see more & more Americans dying.
I apologize if this offends anyone, but right now there is just to much
blind loyalty to an administration that is using token phrases of patriotism
to support their corporate agenda & try to cover up the past & current
mistakes of our country's foreign policy, and again AMERICAN SOLDIERS are
DYING.
This isn't about democrats, republican, independents, or any other political
party. It is about trying to take back control of the American government
from Corporate leaders who see realize more $$$$ & power at the expense of
American lives.
The protests are to try & wake up a population who has turned an apathetic
eye to what has been going on around them & just lets the government do what
it wants.
It is about exercising our rights as AMERICANS, & trying to stop OUR OWN
government from taking away those rights.
I sent the following out the other day:
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we
are to stand by the president, right or wrong,is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." -- Theodore
Roosevelt
And in the last issue of "The Independent",(our local paper for those not
living in Vernonia)
the editor quoted a passage from the Nuremburg trials of testimony by
Hermann Goering, (I also had sent this out a few weeks ago)
"Why, of course the people don't want war... but, after all, it is the
leaders of the country who
determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people
along, whether it is a
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament or a communist
dictatorship... voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the
bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them
they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism
and exposing the country to danger."
and when I see what has been going on in our country for the past few years
& compare it to what Goering said in the 40's it is downright scary.
& of course the following should settle any question about protesters in our
country
(Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution)
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress
of grievances."
So to put down a protester for not being patriotic is in itself a
contradiction of what this country stands for.
I wish everyone in this address book my best wishes & hopes for the future.
"Freedom of Speech... (yeah, just watch what you say...)"
"Body Count"... early 90's
Best Regards,
Glen
| "We're Smokin' Herb! Hope ya'll are too!!" |
Please support our troops, they are faced with an awesome responsibility. We all hope they all return home safe and sound soon, and are recieved like the heroes they are. Support our troops!!!.
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